At Los Angeles Times : Trevor Potter is an unlikely repeat guest for a late-night comedy show. As the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, the courtly Washington lawyer is a leading expert on campaign finance law — not the kind of material that generates a lot of laughs. So the fact that he’s appeared seven times on “The Colbert Report” in the last year, helping host Stephen Colbert set up his own “super PAC” as part of a mischievous political parody, underscores an unexpected development in the 2012 presidential race: Super PACs have seized the zeitgeist. An indirect outgrowth of the Supreme Court ruling in the 2010 Citizens United case, the independent political groups have mushroomed in the last year. They are now dominating not just the action in key primary states such as South Carolina, but the political conversation. In the last month, the number of Google searches for the term “super PAC” was about five times higher than the last year’s monthly average. Spending by such organizations has exceeded $27 million already this year, according to the FEC, much of it going to biting television ads. Pummeled by super PACs aligned with their rivals, the Republican presidential contenders are now loudly denouncing their influence. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said in recent days that all of the candidates wished the outside organizations would disappear and that their outsized sway was “a very bad idea.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was forced to disavow an error-riddled documentary aired by a super PAC run by his former aides, while he and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum have had to defend themselves against attacks by Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney super PAC. At a campaign stop in Columbia, S.C., this week, Santorum accused Romney of sending “his henchmen” to spread disinformation. The complaints mark a sharp turnabout for Republicans, who had largely heralded the Citizens United decision, which allowed unlimited corporate and union spending on campaigns. (The campaigns themselves remain under strict fundraising limits.) The candidates are not opposed to unlimited fundraising but, once confronted with how the decision is playing out, have blamed one another, not the court. Well, I kind of like all the ads actually. More at Washington Post , ” Obama ‘destroys’ Romney in new pro-Gingrich ad .”
The National Federation of Independent Business has filed in federal district court, arguing that Obama illegally bypassed the Senate in his Jan. 4 appointments to the NLRB.
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Obama appointments face court challenge
The National Federation of Independent Business has filed in federal district court, arguing that Obama illegally bypassed the Senate in his Jan. 4 appointments to the NLRB.
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Obama appointments face court challenge
At Los Angeles Times , ” As Mitt Romney surges, Republican divisions sharpen “: A fusillade of attacks on front-runner Mitt Romney presages what is likely to be at least a month of internal warfare among Republicans as the presidential candidates head for the South, the heart of the GOP’s restive base. The campaign’s longtime dynamic shifted forcefully Sunday, as several trailing candidates tried to take down Romney before he more firmly grasps the Republican presidential nomination. He’s a heavy favorite in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, but immediately ahead is South Carolina, where his foes are already on the ground and beaming new, more corrosive charges over the airwaves. Some of what is powering the increasing acrimony among the candidates is personal disdain. But it also reflects profound differences between sectors of the Republican Party. “This is a more doctrinaire Republican base than we had seen in the last 25 years,” said Andrew Kohut, president of the independent Pew Research Center. “It is much more hard-core than in the past.” In particular, he said, highly energized elements on the GOP right “are looking for a rebellious kind of candidate,” as reflected in polls and initial voting results that show a majority of Republicans unwilling to fall in line behind button-down Romney. The problem, of course, is that the sharpening attacks on Romney simply set the table for the extreme left’s impending jihad against the Mormon “predatory capitalist” nominee — that is, if and when Romney clinches the nomination. See: ” Attacks on Romney Will Provide Ammo for Left’s Character Assassination Machine in the Fall .” Also at the New York Times , ” Romney Is Focus as Battle in G.O.P. Takes Sharp Edge .”
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Republican Schisms Sharpen Amid Escalating Offensive Against Romney
AP – Excerpts from briefs filed with the Supreme Court on Friday by the Obama administration in defense of the health care overhaul and two parties — 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business — that oppose the law.
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Excerpts from high court health care filings
(AP)
AP – The Obama administration, a group of 26 states led by Florida and the National Federation of Independent Business filed Supreme Court briefs Friday on different aspects of the health care law that the court will consider in late March. A summary of their arguments:
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Summary of health care legal arguments
(AP)
At Wall Street Journal , ” Scott Brown’s Strategy “: This week Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s nomination of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Only two Republicans broke ranks — Olympia Snowe of Maine and Scott Brown of Massachusetts — and both senators are up for re-election next year. Ms. Snowe should win handily if she isn’t toppled by a primary challenger. Mr. Brown’s re-election prospects, by contrast, are shakier. Two new polls show the GOP freshman trailing Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor who helped establish the CFPB and is expected to be the Democratic nominee. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst gives Ms. Warren a four-point lead and a University of Massachusetts-Lowell/Boston Herald poll has her up by seven points. Three months ago, most polls showed Mr. Brown slightly ahead. The senator’s approval rating has also fallen by eight points to 45%, though his favorables are still in positive territory and exceed Ms. Warren’s. While the poll results may be disconcerting for Mr. Brown and Senate Republicans, they’re not unexpected. Ms. Warren’s campaign has spent $1.5 million on an ad that portrays her as a defender of the middle class. And the League of Conservation Voters has dumped $2 million on spots that tar Mr. Brown as a Washington insider. The real surprise is that Mr. Brown still leads Ms. Warren, 53-37, with independents. Because Republicans constitute less than 15% of the Massachusetts electorate, Mr. Brown will probably have to win more than two-thirds of the independent vote and probably pick up some Democrats as well. Continue reading . VIDEO HAT TIP : Los Angeles Times , ” Elizabeth Warren blasts ‘ridiculous’ charge in ad by Karl Rove group .”
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Scott Brown Faces Tough Challenge From Elizabeth Warren
So says Warmist Michael McCarthy over at the UK Independent Nothing namby-pamby about Margaret Thatcher, whatever you may think of her in the round. Nothing wishy-washy, nothing bunny-hugging, nothing lefty about the Iron Lady. And this is what she told the assembled fellows of the Royal Society on 27 September 1988: “For generations, we have
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Hey, Margaret Thatcher Supported AGW, So, You Should Too!
